Siblings
by McGonagall's Bola
Summary: Christine Angela is a dream of a little girl, so much that neither her mother or father would mind another one. BB


"She being fussy again?" Booth asked, coming into the living room and seeing his daughter in the arms of her doting mother, shushing her. The couple had been cuddled up together on the couch, zapping through television channels – or rather, he had. She had just lain against him enjoying the quiet evening, when suddenly… Christine's screams had resounded from the baby monitor that stood on the living room table, just in case they wouldn't have been loud enough anyway to reach them otherwise. She had sighed in regret, extracting herself from his safe arms in order to check upon their daughter, whose screams had only seemed to increase. She had wordlessly padded over to the nursery, when he had reached for his beer bottle, finding it was drained, thus having gone to find another in their small but nice kitchen. Eventually, he had had to go down to the cellar to find more bottles and had brought a few more, putting those in their tall refrigerator for cooling. They would just be that tiny bit colder than those from the cellar, and a beer was of course always best cold.

A small smile came upon his face as his daughter turned to eye him curiously while lying against Bones' shoulder. Oh how he _adored_ those two girls more than anything!

He set his bottle of beer down on the living room table beside the other one and sat down on the couch, extending his arms to gently take his little girl with a wide smile. Lifting her up in the air and letting her fly like an airplane, her cries of earlier were soon replaced by giggles of laughter. Temperance watched the two tenderly.

Lowering little Christine on his lap once again so as not to overdo it and possibly make her vomit, Booth directed his gaze from his daughter to gaze at Bones no less lovingly, his countenance becoming slightly thoughtful. "How many children did you want as a little girl?" he suddenly asked her, as if the thought had often crossed his mind but he had never gotten to ask it.

His question took her by surprise, and Bones raised her eyebrows as she thought of the answer to it. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't really remember ever having wanted children at all when I was little – and certainly not when I was in my teenage years. I just… I hadn't really thought about children of myself, until…" They both knew the time she was referring to. It felt more like realization I suddenly made. It didn't feel like I had always wanted them, though – I can't really word that feeling."

"Have you ever thought of maybe having more or did you always want just one?" Booth asked.

Bones cocked her head as she looked at him, feeling where the conversation was going. She had gotten some insight in conversation since she had met him – especially with Booth himself. "Are you asking me if I want a brother or sister for Christine?" she wondered. "If so, I couldn't answer that. I mean, I didn't dislike carrying Christine as some women dislike being with child, and we could definitely support it financially. I mean, I still earn quite a lot from my first book even, and my finances still grow daily."

He looked at her meaningfully. "Bones."

Her face took on a pained look. "I'm sorry," she said. "I forgot you don't like to be reminded of how much more I earn than you. I really try not to mention it, but it is a fact, and I sometimes forget finances are slightly tender to you… I just – the difference is rather large, so…"

"Bones."

"I'm sorry."

They both stared at their little daughter in silence, each of them wondering if this or that bit resembled themselves or the other one, thinking quietly about the possibility of a brother or sister for Christine, and neither of them found they minded the very thought at all. Except for the typical occasional fuzziness, Christine was a dream of a little girl, who seemed to have the best of both her mother and father. Of course, both Booth and Brennan knew it wouldn't always be like that and that at one point, the less positive sides of either one and more plausibly both would reveal to have carried on to the next generation. For now, they liked to enjoy the innocence of the little Booth, though.

"What are your thoughts about a baby brother or sister sometime, huh?" Booth asked their little one thoughtfully.

"Booth, she's still incapable of replying in any way or even understanding the meaning of what you're saying as you well know."

"Of course I know," Booth replied, shifting their daughter in his arms gently so he could wrap the other one tightly about Bones and pull her close. They really were a family now: more than he had ever hoped to come from them. While Christine wasn't really planned, she was very welcome in both their lives, and he suspected any sibling of hers would be, tool. As he thought about it, he began to warm more to the idea of another little one.

"Do you want a brother or a sister for her?"

He looked at her then, smiling at the look upon her face: the questioning one he had gotten used to now. "If they're all going to be cute like Christine… more than one as well. It would be nice for her to have someone to have fun with when Parker's not here – and then I mean someone at home. I know that Michael is there and all, but…"

"I know," she said. "It would be nice, but I don't really want to enjoy Christine first, prior to another one entering the family mix."

He nodded. "Hey, I didn't say right now either," he said, looking at their daughter, who had peacefully fallen asleep in his arm and seemed unlikely to wake anytime soon. He shifted her in his arms gently to show her mother how nicely she had dozed off in daddy's arms. "It couldn't hurt to practice some…" he continued, "We didn't need any to make Christine perfect, but since our girl is asleep and there's nothing interesting on television…"

She smiled in a mischievous way and grinned, getting to her feet and reaching for the remote off the television, turning it off before padding over to the bedroom, looking after her in a way that dared him to come after her. "I'll be waiting for you!" she said, laughing slightly.

He looked down at their sleeping daughter with a wide smile and spoke to her softly as he got to his feet, too. "You just gotta love your mom, little one," he spoke in a soft tone, calmly carrying her to her room. "She's going to be the real death of me some day, but I'd die happy for sure…"


End file.
